Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:29 pm on 13 June 2017.
Thank you very much, Darren, for your comments and your questions. As I said in my statement, equity of access to these facilities is very important to me, and you are right to say that, until recently, some schools were not in a position to access the DCF and do the kind of work they wanted to do in digital terms because of a lack of infrastructure. The previous Government had made a commitment to minimum speeds for schools and, unfortunately, on coming into office, I found that there were a number of schools that were not reaching that target. I'm very pleased to say that all schools are reaching the minimum target now. Those problems have been sorted out, and all schools are now at a minimum.
The £5 million—and I should be clear; it’s not an announcement today, it’s money that I’ve announced previously, and I’m reporting back to the Assembly today on the usage of that £5 million, for clarity’s sake. The £5 million investment will be able to further enhance facilities for 341 schools. Those decisions have been made in collaboration with local authorities around capacity they know is problematical, growth in demand and where they feel that there are particular pinch points, and, importantly for me, to improve capacity in our special schools. Under the previous target, special schools were given the same minimum speeds as primary schools. That was done usually on the basis of their rolls being smaller than a secondary school, but of course our special schools often have secondary-age pupils in them, and it seems to me only fair that they have access to what they would have if they were in mainstream secondary school, and also because of the very innovative way many of our special schools use digital technology to access learning opportunities for many of their learners. So, I’m particularly pleased that we’ve been able to address that in the investment.
Darren, you’re also correct that the gubbins outside the school is one thing, but if we haven’t got a proper infrastructure within the school, then this investment will not reach its full potential. Sometimes when I visit schools, people complain to me about a lack of broadband, but actually it’s connectivity issues within the school building itself that are the cause of the problem. So, we will continue to work with local authorities to look at local networks, the capacity of Wi-Fi within an individual school building, and also, crucially, support from the centre—our councils—to schools in the use of their ICT. We will need them to continue to do that.
We also need to challenge some behaviours. You talked about web filters and protecting children, but sometimes web filters can be used in a way that actually confines what we can do with ICT. I’m aware of one particular local authority in Wales where the web filter does not allow Skyping. So, in one county we can have schoolchildren Skyping with an Antarctic explorer, literally down in the south pole, and they can have that conversation with that explorer, but in another authority, because of issues around web filters, they cannot use Skype. So, we need to address those kinds of issues that are confining our ability to use this technology.
You said about literacy disadvantage. I am aware that some schools use their pupil deprivation grant to address some of this. In fact, in Bryn Elian, where you and I went to visit, you will be aware that that school sends Raspberry Pis home with children so that actually they can do their work in their home environment. So, for those children whose parents perhaps haven’t got those resources, the school makes an effort to ensure that that isn’t the case. That’s a really good example of good practice in your constituency that I would commend. As you will be aware and as you referred to, my colleague will make a statement later on roll-out of superfast broadband, and I’m particularly keen that nobody is disadvantaged. Many of these children have to go home at the end of the school day because of school transport issues, and if they’re in a community that doesn’t have access to this technology, they are indeed at a disadvantage. There isn’t a day goes by when my daughters don’t come from school and their homework demands of them some research on the internet.
With regards to safety, Hwb has many resources with regard to internet safety, and we continue to work very closely in ensuring that our children have the skills, the knowledge and the wherewithal to keep themselves safe online. I will be publishing that report as quickly as possible. I am keen to do that in a timely fashion.